


English for Dummies

by liestotheheart (liesunheardof)



Series: English 101 [1]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-02
Updated: 2016-01-02
Packaged: 2018-05-11 00:36:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5607028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liesunheardof/pseuds/liestotheheart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jeonghan’s close to failing his English class. If he doesn’t pull up his grades he’ll be benched and his starter position on the basketball team taken away. Luckily for him his English teacher says she found a tutor for him; a native speaker who moved to Korea a few years ago. Joshua Hong is the English tutor Jeonghan’s been looking for: patient, sweet, and teaches in a way so the English actually makes sense. Joshua being easy on the eyes is just an unexpected bonus.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Meeting the Tutor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got inspired by a prompt
> 
> Prompt: I’m failing my foreign language class and you’re a pro at that language so you kind of have to teach me p.s. you look sexy when you speak that language talk dirty to me
> 
> No dirty talking being written because I couldn't bring myself to do so.
> 
> Crossposted to AFF under a different username

Jeonghan right leg shook nervously rattling his desk. If he bombed this last English test the teacher was handing out, he was dead close to failing the class. Failing meant he would be benched and the regulars position he worked so hard for would be taken from him.

“Jeonghan,” Mrs. Park said, “see me after school. We need to talk.” She placed his test gently face down and he heard her heels click on the floor as she walked to give the remaining students their exams. He stared down at the paper taking a deep breath and braced himself as he flipped his test over. On the top corner a glaring red score of thirty out of a hundred made his heart drop to the pit of his stomach. Jeonghan groaned and crumpled the edges of his test in frustration. He had studied for this test but the English just didn’t stick and it showed on his low exam marks. It didn’t seem to matter if he changed the way he studied or how many hours he studied. English just didn’t make sense and it was screwing with his life.

Come lunchtime he was bemoaning his fate to his friends. “I bombed another English test. Mrs. Park wants to see me after school and Coach is going to kill me for failing.” Jeonghan already anticipated the lecture he would get from the head coach about maintaining grades and if he couldn’t do that then Jeonghan would be off the court. Coach would be so pissed; he’d likely make Jeonghan run suicides until he puked as punishment. As if not being able to play in official games wasn’t already bad enough. He banged his head against the table. ‘ _Life wasn’t fair._ _Why did English even have to be a required course?’_ he thought.

Mingyu, his fellow teammate, patted him on the back and said, “Coach isn’t going to kill you hyung. He’ll just bench you until you get you bring up your English grade.” Jeonghan let out a distressed moan from underneath the ashy blond waterfall that was his hair. He heard Seungcheol and Seokmin sniggering in the background.

Wonwoo, another player on the team, said, “The school staff know how important it is for the basketball team to do well in the upcoming games. We can’t afford to bench our main players. She probably has a tutor lined up for you already in hopes that they can help you bring up your grade.”

“Let’s hope that the tutor can actually beat some English into Jeonghan hyung’s head.” Seokmin said still snickering. The other three just nodded in agreement.

Jeonghan would’ve been offended if he himself wasn’t hoping for the same thing. Everything counted on the fact that the tutor could actually help Jeonghan understand the twists and turns of English. All those long practices and extra workouts and playing basketball in his free time when he wasn’t studying would be for nothing if he couldn’t even play as a regular any longer. The end of school couldn’t seem any further away than it did that day.

* * *

 Jeonghan walked into the teachers’ lounge, bowing his head if teachers called out to him on his way on his journey to Mrs. Park’s desk by the windows. Reaching her he bowed and said, “You wanted to see me Mrs. Park?” He folded his hands together in a meek pose, hoping it would garner him more sympathy and not a lecture.

Mrs. Park sighed. “As you should know by now, you’re not doing well in English at all Jeonghan.” She shook her head sadly. “Failing the class really if we get to the point. But I know you’re on the basketball team as one of the main members.” Mrs. Park said with a sympathetic smile on her face. “So I found a student who’s willing to tutor you. He moved to Korea a few years ago from America; his knowledge of English is perfect. It might be better for you since you can’t seem to grasp textbook English. Learning from a native speaker may suit you better. He said he’d drop by after his music club practice was over to speak to you about meet up times. So be on the lookout for him later during your basketball practice.”

“During practice? Not after?” Jeonghan asked fear creeping into his voice. Coach would be angry at him if he stepped out of practice.

“Mmm, Joshua didn’t specify a time. People can’t adhere to your schedule alone Jeonghan. He has things to do as well. But don’t worry I already informed your coach of everything. He knows to anticipate a small interruption and any future missed practices.” Mrs. Park replied.

Jeonghan nodded and said his thanks to his teacher and left for practice. Every step he took to the gym was one step closer to a lecture and possibly extra exercise for not maintaining his grades in English. Sometimes he really hated himself for joining the team.

* * *

 Jeonghan got a lecture. He also had to run suicides until it felt like he his legs were going to fall off. Coach was pissed. He told Jeonghan in rather clear terms to bring up his grade or else the start of new basketball season all he would see of the court would be from bench side. The school had rules about these things and they had to follow them.

But for now Jeonghan was still practicing with the other regulars despite his legs feeling the burn and pain from all that running. He was mid-shot when the assistant coach yelled for him. Turning his head, he stopped to see Coach Lee gesture for him to come off the court. He threw the ball to Mingyu and walked off the court.

Gesturing towards the door, Coach Lee said “Your tutor is outside looking for you it seems. Hurry and make up a time schedule and come back and report it. The sooner you start the sooner you can be on the court for the upcoming games.” Jeonghan nodded and trotted towards the open gym doors. Once outside he saw a guitar case strapped to a black haired boy’s back.

He made coughing noise in his throat which caused the other boy to turn around. Seeing him face to face Jeonghan was rather surprised. The other boy had large almond shaped eyes, pillowy lips, and a cute smile on his lips; putting all those together the boy was pretty, strikingly so.

“You’re Jeonghan?” He asked for confirmations sake. Jeonghan nodded, getting lost in the boy’s eyes. He smiled again, making the corner of his eyes crinkle. “Hi, I’m Joshua. Your English tutor. Mrs. Park told me you were having trouble. Hopefully I can help you understand English better. I heard that you’re one of the main players and that bringing up your English grade is super important. So I guess starting soon is something we should do. I’m free after school on Tuesdays, Thursdays. The weekends I’m normally free but it depends. How about you?” He said tilting his head to the side in inquiry.          

Jeonghan snapped himself out the trance of his staring at Joshua’s eyes. If he was honest, he had practice every day after school. But Coach was insistent that he actually get his butt back onto the team roster to play for official games; he’d let Jeonghan go early or come in late as much as needed to get him back to playing. “I’m free on the weekends. I’m technically not free after school at all until after practice, but Coach wants me to be able to play when the official games start so I have permission to start practice later or cut it short.”

Joshua hummed contemplating and said, “We can start with Tuesdays and Thursdays after school. We can add more days of tutoring depending on how much help you’ll need and how fast you can learn. Sound all right with you?”

Jeonghan nodded and agreed. Joshua smiled and asked to exchange numbers for future communications. He gave Joshua his number saying, “I’d take your number down but my phone is in my locker right now.” Joshua told him that he’d text Jeonghan later with a location to meet up for future tutoring sessions. He gave Jeonghan one last smile before he walked away with a wave. Jeonghan knew at that moment Joshua’s pretty face would be a distraction.


	2. Getting to Work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where the work actually begins and things progress

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I googled the Korean. I did check a few websites and videos but I am no means an expert and if I'm wrong I'm sorry.

After a grueling three hours, Head Coach Doogi called an end to the day’s practice, telling them to be sure to come for morning practice on time unless they wanted more exercises. With a loud ‘Yes, Coach’ shouted throughout the gym, the regulars and upperclassmen walked off to the locker room while the first years started to put away the balls. Groaning in pain, Jeonghan walked slowly, stretching out his overused leg muscles.

  
Mingyu asked laughing, “You ok, hyung?” Jeonghan grimaced and sent a glare Mingyu’s way. Ignoring him, he walked into the locker room and opened his locker. Toeing off his basketball shoes he started to change, only to have his phone buzz. Surprised, he grabbed it and saw a text from an unknown number. Remembering Joshua, he unlocked his phone and read the message.

  
Hey, Jeonghan. It’s Joshua, your English tutor. I managed to reserve one of the small study rooms in the school’s library for the next few months. Bring your old tests and homework papers if you can. It’ll help me see what we need to work on. I’ll see you there tomorrow after school. :)

  
He smiled at his phone for a few seconds too long, because he saw the light get blocked by someone’s shadow. Turning his head, he saw Mingyu and Wonwoo behind him looking at his phone trying to see the message. Jeonghan locked his phone quickly and placed in back into his locker. Looking at his two friends suspiciously he asked, “What are you two doing?” Mingyu gave him a sly grin and Wonwoo eyes twinkled fiercely. They remained silent, giving heated looks to his phone and to the smile on his face. Feigning ignorance, he shrugged and said, “You two want nothing? Ok.” He turned to finish changing, until he felt someone’s hand on his shoulder.

  
“What put the smile on your face?” Mingyu asked with a huge smile and puppy dog eyes, as if the combination would make Jeonghan tell him what he wanted to hear.  
He shook his head and replied, “Nothing that involves you.” His tone of voice a bit sharp to dissuade the two of them in asking for more. It didn’t seem to work as the two whined in the background, while he went back to changing and gathering his things for his journey home. Jeonghan heard whines of “Hyung, tell me! Don’t be secretive!” “Is it about that girl from the other day? The one that confessed to you." He ignored it all. Swinging his duffle bag on his shoulder, he said his goodbyes, ignoring the other members who seemed to get interested in why Mingyu and Wonwoo were whining.

  
Jeonghan wanted to keep his slight infatuation with his English tutor to himself. If his friends found out they’d give him hell over it, and then they would try to find out everything about Joshua and then try to get them together. God, if they all got involved it would a shit show of epic proportions. His chances of getting together with Joshua with their help were a lot smaller than if he just tried by himself. But now wasn’t the time to think about dating or how cute the other boy happened to be. Joshua might not even be into guys either. All Jeonghan needed to was to focus on bringing up his English grade so he could play in the games when they started, but having a tutor like Joshua would make it hard.

* * *

The next day during lunch, it was quiet for once. It seemed that both Wonwoo and Mingyu forgot about last night’s whine fest in the locker room. Well it was quiet until they started to ask about the tutor situation. Seungcheol asked, “So who’s the tutor? Anyone we know? Are they cute?”

  
Wonwoo piped up, “When are you meeting them? Did Coach Doogi let you out of practice for this?”

  
Jeonghan fired off, “Tutor’s name is Joshua. I don’t think so. Yes.” Turning his head towards Wonwoo, “After school. Yes.” Seokmin and Mingyu had confused looks on their faces, apparently lost due to the rapid answering.

  
“Joshua? Is he mixed?” Seungcheol questioned.

  
Jeonghan shook his head. “He looked completely Korean to me. He’s from America. Moved here a few years ago my teacher said.”

  
“Wait, I know a Joshua.” Seokmin blurted out, finally caught up with what the topic was. “He’s in music club with me. He plays the guitar. He said he lived in LA all his life until he came here.”  
“You said he was cute. Are you hiding something from us?” Seungcheol said with a sly grin on his face. Wonwoo’s eyes again took on that twinkling and Mingyu still looked confused.

  
Jeonghan sighed, internally however he was freaking out. He definitely wanted to keep his friends in the dark, otherwise they’d blow his minor crush out of proportion. “I’m not blind Seungcheol. He’s a looker.”

  
Seokmin nodded in agreement. “A lot of the girls in music club are all over him. They whisper about how pretty his eyes are, his cute face, and how his voice is nice. Especially when he sings songs in English.”

  
Changing the topic abruptly, Jeonghan said, “Well, I have tutoring sessions two days out of the week and so I’ll be going to practice late. Here’s hoping that Joshua can help me with English.” He watched as his friends just nodded their heads.

* * *

He walked to the library. His stomach doing flip flops in anticipation of seeing Joshua again. He hoped he wouldn’t make a giant fool of himself in front of the English speaking native with his nonexistent skill in said subject. Jeonghan knew in his head that he was getting tutored so it made sense that his English skills were on the rough side, but he still wanted to make a good impression. Maybe his good looks would help him get Joshua to look at him beyond that kid he was tutoring, and as a potential friend if not a potential lover after the tutoring sessions ended.

  
Walking into the library, he continued down the rows of bookshelves until he reached the end where all the study rooms were located. Eyes searching, Jeonghan spotted Joshua in the corner room setting up books and papers. He walked to the room, quietly knocking on the door to signal his presence. Joshua lifted his head and with a welcoming smile, uttered a hello from his lips. His smile made Jeonghan weak in the knees. He barely knew the other boy, yet somehow he was awestruck by his looks; all he knew was that Joshua was American and he was in music club. It was uncharacteristic of Jeonghan to be so enamored by a person’s looks alone, Jeonghan himself was popular throughout school thanks to being on the basketball team and being a looker. He was used to having people confess to him. Hell, he even dated one or two of them. But here he was getting lost in another person’s looks when he barely knew them. How the mighty had fallen.

  
“Jeonghan? Hey, Earth to Jeonghan.” Joshua said, waving his hand in front of Jeonghan’s face trying to get his attention. The black haired boy moved closer to Jeonghan, looking at him with concern in his eyes and his lips turned downward. Here he was getting lost in his thoughts again about Joshua. This wasn’t going well at all. Jeonghan needed to get his head out of the clouds and his mind off Joshua if he wanted back on the court.

  
The blond haired boy cleared his throat. “I’m fine. Just got lost in the clouds for a bit.” He said with a sheepish smile.

  
Joshua smiled in return. Letting out a small chuckle he said, “I get lost in the clouds a lot too.” Gesturing towards the table in the room, “Let’s sit and talk about how we’re going to go about getting your English grade up.” Jeonghan nodded in agreement and they both moved towards the table with Joshua taking the seat at the head of the table and him at the side. “I’ve tutored a few other students before and how I normally start is with giving a practice test, while I look at your previous tests and assignments to get a feel on where we should focus on and what doesn’t need work. From there I tailor the sessions towards your weaknesses. Unfortunately, I have to add some minor amount of work to your regular work load to make sure it’s sinking into your brain. I also help with your regular English homework but not too much. I normally help you with anything that seems too hard for you, and then correct your mistakes as a way to get you used to the language. Any questions?”

  
“How much work is minor?” Jeonghan asked.

  
“It’s normally only one to two worksheets. As we get more advanced I might ask you to write a few paragraphs about your day, your future plans, or things about your past in English so you can get more practice. It depends on how fast you progress and how much you need to catch up on the material in your actual English class.” He said with his finger on his chin in contemplation. “So if there’s no more questions let’s get started,” Joshua stated, pulling out a worksheet from the top book. He handed the paper to Jeonghan, and in return made a ‘give me’ gesture with his hand. “You brought your old stuff like I asked right?” Jeonghan nodded; Joshua simply made the same gesture again. The blond haired boy unzipped his backpack and handed over the small stack of papers to Joshua. Nodding in satisfaction, Joshua said, “You should take out a pencil too. You have thirty minutes to finish the practice test I just gave you,” head tilting towards the paper in front of Jeonghan. “Time starts now. Good luck.” He sent a smile Jeonghan’s way and then looked down at the papers in his hand.

  
Jeonghan looked down at the practice test. ‘Freaking crap.’ He thought. Half of the test questions were in English. The other half were in Korean asking for the answers to be written in English. Staring at the paper, the blond haired boy couldn’t help but think about how illiterate he was in English. He would need a lot of help and work it seemed. Sighing softly, he took a peek at Joshua, who shuffled his papers and hmmed and ahhed. The look on his face didn’t bode well for Jeonghan. Joshua looked up and stared back at him. Tapping at his watch he mouthed, ‘You’re running out of time.’

  
Jeonghan turned his attention back to the paper. Gnawing at his lip, he wondered how many of the questions he could actually answer. He picked the Korean questions first and slowly worked his way up to the hardest of questions. When Joshua called the thirty-minute mark, he filled the test out, but half of them were just guesses. Shaking his head, he slid the paper over to his tutor.

  
“All right. Let’s see how much we need to work on,” Joshua quietly stated, giving Jeonghan yet another cute smile. Taking a red pen off the table, Jeonghan watched as Joshua marked up his test. He winced after the 6th slash, and he continued to do so until the other boy put down the pen. Joshua looked up at Jeonghan with a slightly strained smile, “I guess we have our work cut out for us. Let’s begin.”

* * *

“Right so it seems that your main problems are with sentence structure and subject-verb agreement. Which is understandable since the Korean language doesn’t actually use subject-verb agreement the way English does and the sentence structure in English is rather different depending on your actual sentence. But these two things are essential.” Going up to the white board in the room, Joshua started to write out an example in English: ‘I am. He/She is. They are. We are.’ Pointing at the ‘I am.’, “In English we can say I am American. In Korean it’s jeonun miguk saram imnida. But when we talk about someone else, She/he is American versus geunyeoneun miguk-in-ida.”

  
Underlining the verbs, Joshua pointed and said, “If you look at the difference it’s that in English the verb changes with the subject and in Korean it doesn’t. The verb changing always happens in the English language. There are tricks to remembering when and how to change it. But for now let’s start a bit slow and build up speed.” Jeonghan at this point took out a notebook and a pen to take notes. Joshua nodded in approval and turned back to the whiteboard and continued to teach.

* * *

With a sigh of relief, Jeonghan put his pencil down and flopped his arms and head onto the table. “Finally. Even with your help this assignment took a long time to finish.”

  
Joshua muffled a laugh behind his hand. “It’s only because you’re still struggling with English. After we continue to meet and you absorb everything I’m teaching, you’ll be able to finish these assignments in no time. It’s all a matter of practice.”Jeonghan watched as the other boy placed his chin in his palm. “Now that I remember the English classes here have a speaking portion to them as well don’t they?”

  
“Yea, they do. My pronunciation is kind of sad.” Jeonghan said.

  
Joshua hummed, “After a few sessions, I’ll speak in English more and make you speak back to me in English. That way we can tackle working on syntax, grammar, and your speaking skills.” He gave Jeonghan reassuring pats on his arm. “I’ll do my best to help you. Promise.” Widely grinning, his eyes sparkled; in that moment staring at Joshua, the blond haired boy thought he saw a literal angel in the flesh.

* * *

A month had passed, Jeonghan had been through eight tutoring sessions with Joshua and it showed when he worked on his homework with or without Joshua things made sense. He wasn’t lying when he told Jeonghan he would do his best to help. If the blonde thought about his long struggle with English; he actually understood the class lecture for the first time this year thanks to Joshua.

  
Not only did the sable-haired boy manage to drill English into Jeonghan’s thick skull. He also got under his skin. During the tutoring sessions, every little action the other did managed to draw the blonde’s eyes toward him. He knew that he shouldn’t be so distracted with Joshua but he couldn’t help it. So Jeonghan took almost every opportunity he could, to subtly flirt with the other boy, watching Joshua’s reactions to gauge whether or not he actually welcomed his flirting or not. If the blond could get his A’s, his butt back on the court, and the boy at the end of the day; well he wouldn’t object to that at all.

  
A golden opportunity for Jeonghan had happened when the tutoring day just frustrated him beyond belief and basketball practice was killing him; it caused him to sigh loudly and obnoxiously for the first thirty minutes. Joshua had seen the stress written all over him and asked if he wanted to take a break. Not a simple bathroom or water break, but more along the lines of let’s play something to get you less stressed break.

  
Joshua had suggested they go to a local basketball court. And Jeonghan could show him why there was all this hype about him and his skills. The black haired boy had said it teasingly with a coy smile on his kissable lips. Jeonghan nodded and off they went.

  
He showed Joshua some of his fancier tricks and skills. Watching from the sidelines, Joshua clapped and whooped in joy every time he made a basket. It made Jeonghan giddy with happiness. After going through his skill set, he tried to persuade Joshua to play one-on-one with him. Joshua shook his head and said, “Nooo. I’m not very good. I’m more of a soccer kid. I played lots of soccer back in LA.”

  
“Come on. Please. I’ll teach you some simple skills before we play. Just play with me once.” He said with a pout on his lips.

  
Looking at the pitiful face he must’ve had pulled, Joshua sighed and agreed to an impromptu lesson and a short game. “First person to reach 5 points wins.”

  
It was during this lesson where Jeonghan got up close and personal with Joshua. He showed him the textbook position to shoot the ball, and then watched as Joshua tried to mimic the position. Standing behind him Jeonghan touched him lightly; he fixed the way Joshua’s arms and hands were positioned by bringing his arms around the other boy and slowly moving his hands upward and bending the elbow in his shooting arm. Taking this opportunity to flirt some more, Jeonghan whispered in Joshua’s ear the way to aim and shoot the ball. Looking at his face this close, he could see a light blush on Joshua’s elegant cheekbones.

  
They had played a short game with Jeonghan winning of course, but he did lose the ball quite a few times so he could run up to Joshua and be in his personal space defending him from making a basket. They played like that for half an hour. Jeonghan had insisted he buy Joshua coffee afterwards for playing with him and being a great tutor so far. They had gone to a café to grab drinks and cool down from the exercise. All in all, what had been a bad day turned into a rather fruitful one for Jeonghan.

* * *

Looking at the practice test and homework results from that day’s tutoring session in his hands, Joshua looked at Jeonghan and said, “I think we should add some more tutoring days.” With a wry smile on his face, he sighed, “You’re doing much better. But with your next test in two weeks and with official basketball games happening soon; in order for you to play on the court, you’ll need to ace the next couple of tests and all future homework assignments. Which at the rate at we’re going it would take too long for you to understand the material well enough to get A’s right away.” Jeonghan grimaced. He reminded himself in the beginning, a number of times that he was getting tutored because he wanted to be on the court playing. Not because his tutor was cute and seemed like perfect boyfriend material. But this was a big reminder, he understood things now, but it still wasn’t enough.

  
Joshua placed his papers down and slid it across the table for Jeonghan to take a look at his score. Jeonghan opens his eyes wide in surprise. There it was, tangible proof that all the tutoring was actually paying off. The amount of red marks on his papers were a lot smaller than before they started.

  
“You’re free on the weekends right?” He asked. Jeonghan nodded yes. Wondering whether or not they’d have weekend tutoring sessions and if they would take place at one of their houses, and how close he’d be able to get to the black haired cutie.

  
“Let’s starting meeting on the weekends for a few hours so we can accelerate the pace.” Joshua declares. “There’s this café called Mansae in the area, we can meet up there this Saturday. After lunch around 2:00 pm?”

  
Jeonghan replied, “I’ve heard of that place. I can be there at 2pm.”

  
“Perfect. With the weekends I think you’ll be ready for that test and you’ll be on that basketball court before you know it!” Joshua exclaimed and beamed at him.

 


	3. Full Circle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where things come to an end: Jeonghan does well and gets the boy of his dreams

Saturday arrived and Jeonghan woke up bright and early despite how long Friday had been. He was excited to see Joshua in something beyond their school uniform if he was being honest. And that they’d be in an entirely different atmosphere than the school library study rooms. Jumping out of bed, he walked towards his closet. Fumbling through his clothes he wondered what he should wear. Looking up at his clock, he noticed he’d be late if he didn’t pick something and leave in the next ten minutes. Jeonghan scrambled. He grabbed a t-shirt and a light jacket. Eyeing the jeans on the floor of his room, he snatched them up and pulled them. The blond haired boy took his bag, crammed his feet into his boots, and practically ran out the door.

Twelve minutes later, Jeonghan stood in front of a brick café called Mansae. It had two stories, both levels having large windows to let the sun in giving it a rather light welcoming atmosphere. With his backpack slung over one shoulder, he pulled the door open and entered. He heard a loud welcome ring through the air. His eyes looked over to the counter to see Joshua handing over a cup of coffee to a customer at the register. Jeonghan drank in the sight of Joshua in an apron, hair parted and gelled to the side, in the cutest waiter-esque clothing consisting of a white button up, black slacks and vest.

Somehow his legs carried him the rest of the way to the counter. Up close and personal he could swear he saw Joshua’s eye sparkle; he wasn’t sure if it was the lighting or because his delusional head was hoping it was because Jeonghan was there. “Hey.” Joshua said with a smile. “Let me get someone to man the register really quick and we can get started.” He turned and walked into the kitchen. Jeonghan just stood there stunned by what he saw and tried to absorb the image into his mind. He heard Joshua talking to someone in English and he titled his head to try to peak into through the swinging doors. All the blond could see was a pair of black haired people talking. A few minutes later, Joshua and an older college aged guy walked out. Joshua took off his apron and hung it up on a hook on the wall.

“I got the register Josh,” said the other guy.

“Thanks Aron.” He said with a smile. The two of them bumped fists, and did some sort of secret handshake thing. Jeonghan glared at Aron, feeling a tad jealous. Seeing them finish their little thing, he turned his gaze away. Walking to Jeonghan, Joshua pointed to the stairway and stated, “Let’s go upstairs. We can work up there.”

Jeonghan followed him as Joshua led the way. He asked, “Is it ok for you to leave your job like that?”

Joshua laughed. “Oh. It’s not really a job. This place is owned by my mom. I come here and help out on the weekends and to spend time with her,” he explained as they climbed the stairs.

“That must keep you busy then. With your club, tutoring me, and then your weekends being occupied by me too now.”

“Well, the tutoring is only temporary. After you get back on track with the material and understand how to not fall into the same mistakes as before the tutoring is pretty much done and over. Then I have more free time again.” Joshua mused as he led them both to a table heavy with books and papers. Jeonghan fell silent. He forgot that once he did well enough again, the tutoring sessions with Joshua would end and he wouldn’t see the other boy on a regular basis anymore. Not unless he sought the other’s company out on his own. But with clashing schedules and no mutual friends, meeting up seemed unlikely unless Jeonghan did something drastic. The question was what would he do.

“Jeonghan. Hey, calling Yoon Jeonghan. Anyone in there?” Jeonghan jerked back into reality. Joshua laughed, “Head got lost in the clouds again?”

“Nah. Just thinking about some things.”

Shaking his head, Joshua sat down and gestured towards the other bench for Jeonghan to sit. Opening a folder, Joshua took out practice worksheets. Handing them to Jeonghan he said, “Let’s get started.”

* * *

 

After an hour of learning and going over pronunciation, Aron approached their table. “Joshua, it’s time for the weekend song jam.”

Joshua looked at his watch. “You’re right. Crap.” He looked to Jeonghan. “Umm so I forgot to tell you every weekend I play a few songs at the café. It’ll only take me like fifteen minutes. I’ll be back. Get some coffee. It’s on me.” With that he ran down the stairs.

Jeonghan felt a nudge to his shoulder, he turned to see Aron with a little grin on his face. “You should go and see Josh sing. The sound of his voice will surprise you.” Giving him a little smirk, “Especially since you seem interested in him.” Jeonghan could feel the blood rise to his cheeks; he gave Aron a dirty look. “Hey, it’s all right. I won’t tell him. He’s kind of oblivious anyway. I mean lots of customers come back just to see Joshua, he just doesn’t realize it. He’s got that innocent lamb vibe going for him. Better snatch him up before someone else does.” Looking at the clock in the center of the wall, he said, “Oh look at the time he’s going to start his mini set soon. Better get down there.” Giving Aron a hard stare, he thanked him and Jeonghan walked away down the stairs.

On the first floor, there sat a mini stage against the wall. There Joshua was setting up the mics he needed and settled himself on a stool with a guitar in his arms. Strumming the first few chords, Joshua opened his mouth and sang. Jeonghan was happy for once that he could actually understand the majority of what the black haired boy was singing. It was an English song, something about Sunday mornings. After a few minutes, Joshua moved onto the next song announcing that he had learned something new for once, which the regulars gave a little chuckle because they knew his regular songs by now. A few words out of his mouth and Jeonghan recognized it as G-Dragon and TOP’s _baby goodnight_. He stared in awe, listening to the sweet tone of Joshua’s voice coupled with the guitar. Of all the things to happen to him during such a chaotic time, wanting someone wasn’t on the list. But standing there listening to him sing, Jeonghan swore he was falling in love.

Joshua finished the song with a last strum of his guitar. Smiling at the audience and the applause, he bowed. Jeonghan watched as he looked around smiling at the regulars and the new customers, until his eyes fell on him. He watched as Joshua looked embarrassed. He even had a blush on his face, which made him that much cuter to Jeonghan. Joshua walked off the small stage and approached him with his guitar in hand. “You watched?” He asked, looking at Jeonghan with his eyes slightly downcast showcasing his lovely lashes.

Clearing his throat, he replied, “Yeah. Your voice is pretty.” Joshua smiled in response.

“Did you get something to drink while you down here?”

He opened his mouth to say no, but he was beat by Aron. “He ordered two iced Americanos. He even paid for them, one for you and one for him.”

“You didn’t have to do that. I told you it was on me.”

“He insisted Josh. Isn’t he a nice guy?” Aron said, with a smile that spelled trouble.

“Thanks, Jeonghan. Can you bring them to up when they’re done Aron?” Aron nodded. “Let’s get back to work then. Just let me put my guitar away. I’ll be up in a minute.” The black haired boy walked off to the staff lounge and disappeared.

Rounding on Aron, Jeonghan was going to ask what in the hell was he doing, but once again Aron beat him to the punch. “Don’t worry I got you covered. Listen though, Joshua is a sweet kid. I can tell you like him. But a word of warning whatever you do, don’t hurt him. Otherwise you’ll have some pretty pissed off people to deal with. Go on upstairs. No need to thank me. Seeing the kid smile more will be all the thanks I need.”

Jeonghan just stared at him hard, narrowing his eyes into slits. Slowly making his way upstairs, he heard Aron say one last thing. “I think Joshua has a thing for you too, in case you were wondering.” Whipping his around, he watched as Aron disappeared into the kitchen.

* * *

 

They spent the weeks leading up to Jeonghan’s first test since tutoring meeting up four times a week. With each tutoring session he got better and better. With each tutoring session at the café, he learned more and more about the boy who was haunting his waking and sleeping moments. From the way he laughed with his hand covering his mouth, to the little cross piercing on his left ear, how his front two teeth were just a little crooked, to his favorite music artists, and his hobby of watching anime. All the little idiosyncrasies that made up Joshua Hong made him fall even harder.

The test came and went. Jeonghan once again, was shaking his leg up and down waiting in fear and anticipation for the test score that could hinder his basketball playing. Mrs. Park laid his test down. Giving him a slight smile, she said, “Good job Jeonghan. Looks like Joshua is working wonders.” He grabbed the test as she walked away and turned it over. There was his first A in English class ever. A nice red ninety out of a hundred stared back at him. He jumped out of his seat and let out a happy yell, causing his classmates to look at him in surprise. Jeonghan smiled sheepishly and slowly slid back down. He couldn’t wait to tell Joshua. But come to think of it, he didn’t actually know which class he was in. It should be easy enough though, he knew that Joshua was in the same year as him, and there were only three other classes. Time to go on an adventure during lunch.

* * *

 

Leaving his friends hanging at their normal table, he wandered the 2nd year classroom’s floor. He poked his head in and asked about a Joshua Hong. It seemed that lady luck was smiling down at him that day because he hit the jackpot on the very first try. Joshua spent his lunch in the music room, as one of his classmates said. Jeonghan found the room rather easily for someone who never stepped foot in it before. The blond thanked the fact that high schoolers were such gossips. Sliding the door open, he found Joshua sitting at the piano playing with the keys.

“Jeonghan! What are you doing here?” He asked in surprise.

He whipped out his test and said, “Look at the score.” He was vibrating with excitement. The blond was hoping that Joshua was going to be just as excited as he was earlier.

Joshua looked down at the paper. His face formed a huge grin. “You did it! An A! Keep this up and you’ll be playing at the official games next month.” Jeonghan feeding off the euphoria of acing his test, and Joshua’s excitement, grabbed the other boy, lifted and spun him around. Despite being a basketball player, Jeonghan’s arms weren’t that strong; he only could hold Joshua up for a few seconds. After those seconds they both ended up on the floor, with Jeonghan’s head meeting the linoleum. “Oh my gosh! Are you ok? Jeonghan?”

Jeonghan groaned first, then he laughed. “I’m fine. I got a little too excited.”

Getting off of Jeonghan, he stood up and laughed. Giving him a hand up, Joshua said, “I can tell. I haven’t been lifted like that since I was a little kid.” Hauling Jeonghan up, he said with an impish smile, “Since you’re already here, want to eat lunch with me?” The blond nodded enthusiastically. The more time he could spend with Joshua meant he could get to know him more and vice versa.

They spent the rest of lunch talking and eating the lunch that Joshua’s mom packed for him. While listening to Joshua, he noticed a piece of rice stuck to the side of his mouth. He raised his finger and swiped the rice kernel onto his thumb. Joshua eyes were wide open, blinking slowly at Jeonghan. The deer-in-the-headlights look was cute on the boy; Jeonghan couldn’t believe that somebody could look cute almost all the time. Licking the rice piece off his thumb, he opened his mouth, only to get interrupted.

A kid burst into the room shouting, “Joshua hyung! You won’t believe it!”

Followed by another underclassmen shouting, “Boo! For god sakes don’t go screaming into the room, you know Joshua sleeps here sometimes.”

Jeonghan could see a hint of a blush on his cheeks. Turning around, Joshua gave a small giggle. “What’s up Seungkwan? Vernon, it’s ok. You of all people should know Seungkwan’s habits by now.”

“You heard Joshua hyung, Vernon. It’s fine. Anyway before I was rudely interrupted,” giving Vernon a dirty look, “We passed the semi-finals for the summer festival we participated in! We’re in the finals! Cash prizes and a trophy could be ours hyung! Jihoon wants us to come up with a new set list for the competition and have more practices.”

“That’s great! We can always practice at Mansae. Mom doesn’t mind and I think the customers actually like hearing us all the time. Ah, but on the weekends it’ll have to wait until I finish tutoring Jeonghan.” He said, running a finger over his lip musingly.

At that, Jeonghan saw both underclassmen swerve their eyes his way. The boy diva, Seungkwan gave him a sly smile. Vernon just looked at him funny. “So you’re the person who’s been taking up all of Joshua’s time. Nice to meet you Jeonghan-hyung. How’s the tutoring going?” Seungkwan said.

“Nice to meet you too. Tutoring is going pretty good so far. Hopefully within a few months I can return Joshua to the music club full time.” If Jeonghan had been paying attention to Joshua, instead of the underclassmen that was grilling him for information, he would’ve seen the smile on his face disappear. The blond turned to the half foreign looking boy and asked, “And you’re in music club too I’m assuming?”

“Only when they need some rapping. Otherwise I’m just a spectator.” The boy said with a shrug. Just as Seungkwan was going to ask more questions. Joshua cleared his throat. He interrupted their grilling by pointing out the time and how they should be going towards class unless they wanted to be late.

Outside his room, Joshua said to Jeonghan, “It was nice eating lunch with you. Congratulations again on that A.”

“The only reason I got that A was thanks to you.” He said rubbing his hand over his head in an embarrassed manner.

Joshua shook his head and turned to enter his class, but he turned around and said, “I’ll see you tomorrow Jeonghan,” with a coy smirk.

* * *

 

Over the course of the next few weeks, Jeonghan absorbed all the lessons on English and worked his butt off on the court. The tension was mounting in the club as the first official game was just around the corner. He had Coach Doogi breathing down his neck about his grade, which was being pulled up. If he aced the next exam he’d have a decent enough grade to be able to play once again. But of course to stay on the team he’d need to maintain that C average.

At this point he knew that he’d do well on the exam as long as he studied and remembered the tricks Joshua had taught him. So Jeonghan wasn’t losing any sleep over that. What was bugging him was how he would ask Joshua out? He knew he would want to do it soon. Both him and Joshua could tell that the tutoring would end soon, since Jeonghan managed to absorb English well so far.

The blond had a vague idea to ask Joshua to come to the first game and then ask him out after; it just seemed to damn cliché though. He’d normally go to his friends for advice, but not in this case. Not in a million years.

The Thursday before the first official game rolled around. Jeonghan had gotten the ok to play. Which was good, because he had decided to go the cliché way of asking Joshua out. He felt the ticket to tomorrow’s game burn in his pocket. He really wanted Joshua to be there.

Sitting down in the study room, he pulled out his work and then they spent the next two hours going over the material. At the end, Jeonghan pulled out the ticket and slid it towards Joshua. “If you have time tomorrow, here’s a ticket for the first official basketball game,” he said with an eager smile on his lips.

Joshua’s face took on a sad expression. “I’m sorry Jeonghan. I don’t think I’ll be able too. The music club is having the final part of the competition tomorrow. I have no idea of when it’ll end. I don’t think I’ll have time to go your first game.”

“Ah…” pushing the ticket towards Joshua still, “Take it anyway. You never know.” He said. At that point he walked out of the room before he blurted out why he wanted Joshua to come in the first place. Jeonghan needed lady luck to shine her luck on him once more. He hoped she would tomorrow.

* * *

 

Jeonghan sat on the bench waiting for his turn to be put back in the game. He listened to the screeching of basketball shoes on the gym floor and the cheering of the students. He played well so far. But not well enough as Coach Doogi said he was playing too hard too fast and took him off the court for a cool down. Jeonghan was jittery. The only things he managed to accomplish at this point in time was one get his butt back on the court playing, and two get his English grade up. The third unexpected goal was still not here and unresolved. Joshua was nowhere in sight and while he knew the guy was busy, he had hopes that he would still make it.

Mingyu nudged him. “Psst, hyung.”

“What?” He hissed back, eyes never leaving the court.

“I think your tutor angel is here.” His head turned to where Mingyu was pointing. Jeonghan didn’t even question how Mingyu knew what Joshua looked like, let alone how he knew that Jeonghan had invited him; because there Joshua was with his guitar strapped to his back and the cutest smile on his lips. Joshua saw his gaze turned towards him and waved. He waved back, thanking lady luck in his head.

Coach Doogi called for a timeout. “Jeonghan, Mingyu both of you are going back in. Don’t rush things like you did earlier. Let the pace of the game naturally build. Get out there and win the game.” The two nodded and went back on court. Having Joshua there was like having a goddess of victory. Every single move and shot he made was practically on point and perfect. He could feel it in his bones, they were going to win this game. Twenty minutes later the buzzer rang and looking at the scoreboard; he smiled. The team scored ten points over their opponents. They did their customary bows and handshakes.

He ran towards the bleachers where he saw Joshua sitting. “Stay right here ok? I’ll be back out quick. I have something to say to you.”

“Sure.” Joshua said bemused at Jeonghan’s words. He ran to the locker room and quickly changed and grabbed his stuff.

“Going to ask the tutor angel out hyung?” Startled Jeonghan nearly dropped his bag on the floor.

Turning to look at Wonwoo and Mingyu who came up from behind him he declared, “I’m not even going to ask how or where you found out about this. But once I do, I swear I’ll get whoever told you and the both of you. Now if you excuse me, I do have an angel to ask out.” He ran out the doors and back into the gym, sighing in relief that Joshua was still sitting there waiting.

He called out, “Hey.”

The black haired boy laughed. “Hi.”

“So uh… I wanted to ask you… if you…” _God damn it, why was he at a loss for words now._

“Hmmm.” Joshua inquired.

Jeonghan bit his lip and blurted out, “I wanted to ask you if you would go on a date with me.” His voice echoed through the empty gym.

Joshua blushed. Grinning down at Jeonghan from his higher vantage point, with the sun shining through the windows, making Joshua look like a literal angel, he replied, “Ok.” Jeonghan smiled in relief, with his knees wanting to buckle underneath him he watched as Joshua made his way down the bleachers and towards him. “Ok, I’ll go on a date with you.” Joshua leaned into his personal space and gave him a small kiss on the side of his mouth. Jeonghan blushed and grinned at Joshua wildly, his eyes filled with triumph. “You could’ve asked sooner though you know? I would’ve said yes.” Grabbing Joshua’s hand, he laced their fingers together, and kissed his forehead. Chuckling at the minor sass that was thrown at him, he held tight onto Joshua’s hand as he led them out the gym doors.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm writing a companion piece to this story. It's essentially going to be Joshua's POV of these events.


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